William Arrol

Who was William Arrol?

Sir William Arrol was a Scottish civil engineer, bridge builder, and Liberal Unionist Party politician.

The son of a spinner, he was born in Houston, Renfrewshire, and started work in a cotton mill at only 9 years of age. He started training as a blacksmith by age 13, and went on to learn mechanics and hydraulics at night school. In 1863 he joined a company of bridge manufacturers in Glasgow, but by 1872 he had established his own business, the Dalmarnock Iron Works, in the east end of the city. In the late 1870s he went on to found Sir William Arrol & Co., a leading international civil engineering business.